The statues are meant to adorn the public safety headquarters building of the City of Quincy.
By Catholics for Catholics
They are the patron saints of police officers and firefighters, but a Superior Court judge of Norfolk has for the time being blocked the installation of two large statues honoring the Catholic figures outside the Public Safety headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts.
According to CBS News, the City of Quincy says that the 10-foot-tall statues of St. Michael, patron saint of police officers, and St. Florian, the patron of firefighters, are symbols of great consequence to first responders.
However, in May, led by the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group of Quincy residents of various religious faiths filed a lawsuit saying the plan violates the separation of church and state as codified in the Massachusetts Constitution. The injunction will block the putting in place of the statues while the case advances. The court also denied the city of Quincy’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
In the ruling, Justice William F. Sullivan said, “the Complaint raises colorable concerns that members of the community not adherent to Catholic or Christian teaching who pass beneath the two statues to report a crime may reasonably question whether they will be treated equally.”
Still, Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch has defended the statues as public art that honors police and firefighters. The statues cost more than $800,000, a price tag some in the city were concerned about.
Sullivan said, “Although Defendants argue that the public has an interest in inspiring the City’s first responders in carrying out their work to maximum effectiveness, the Court does not conceive the ability, commitment, and enthusiasm of members of the Quincy Police and Fire Departments to serve the communities will be appreciably undermined if the two statues are absent for the duration of this litigation.”
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